Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs eBook

R. LEDIFOLIUM (syns Azalea ledifolia and A.
liliiflora).—­Ledum-leaved Azalea.
China, 1819. A perfectly hardy species. The
flowers are large and white, but somewhat flaunting.
It is, however, a desirable species for massing in
quantity, beside clumps of the pink and yellow flowered
kinds. Though introduced nearly three-quarters
of a century ago, this is by no means a common plant
in our gardens.

R. MAXIMUM.—­American Great Laurel.
North America, 1756. This is a very hardy American
species, growing in favoured localities from 10 feet
to 15 feet high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, slightly
ferruginous beneath. Flowers rose and white,
in dense clusters. There are several handsome
varieties that vary to a wide extent in the size and
colour of flowers. R. maximum album bears white
flowers.

R. MOLLE (syn Azalea mollis), from Japan (1867),
is a dwarf, deciduous species of neat growth, with
flame-coloured flowers. It is very hardy, and
a desirable acquisition to any collection of small-growing
shrubs.

R. OCCIDENTALE (syn Azalea occidentalis), Western
Azalea, is valuable in that the flowers are produced
later than those of almost any other species.
These are white, blotched with yellow at the base of
the upper petals; and being produced when the leaves
are almost fully developed, have a very pleasing effect,
particularly as they are borne in great quantity,
and show well above the foliage. This is a Californian
species that has been found further west of the Rocky
Mountains than any other member of Ihe family.

R. PARVIFOLIUM.—­Baiacul, 1877. This
is a pleasing and interesting species, with small
deep-green ovate leaves, and clusters of white flowers,
margined with rose. It is of dwarf and neat growth,
and well suited for planting on the rock garden.

R. PONTICUM.—­Pontic Rhododendron, or Rose
Bay. Asia Minor, 1763. This is the commonest
species in cultivation, and although originally a
native of the district by the Black or Pontic Sea,
is now naturalised in many parts of Europe. It
is the hardiest and least exacting of the large flowered
species, and is generally employed as a stock on which
to graft the less hardy kinds. Flowers, in the
typical species, pale purplish-violet and spotted.
There is a great number of varieties, including white,
pink, scarlet, and double-flowering.

R. PONTICUM AZALEOIDES (syn R. ponticum deciduum),
a hybrid between R. ponticum and a hardy Azalea, is
a sub-evergreen form, with a compact habit of growth,
and bearing loose heads of fragrant lavender-and-white
flowers. It is quite hardy at Kew.

R. RACEMOSUM.—­Central China, 1880.
A neat little species, of dwarf, compact growth, from
the Yunnan district of China. The flowers are
pale pink edged with a deeper tint, about an inch
across, and borne in terminal and axillary clusters.
It has stood unharmed for several years in southern
England, so may be regarded as at least fairly hardy.
Its neat dwarf growth, and flowering as it does when
hardly a foot high, renders it a choice subject for
the Alpine garden.